The U.S. economy last month reached a milestone: It finally regained all the private-sector jobs it lost during the Great Recession.

Yet it took six painfully slow years, and unemployment remains stubbornly high at 6.7 percent.

Businesses and nonprofits shed 8.8 million jobs during the 2007-09 recession; they have since hired 8.9 million.

But because the population has grown since the big downturn, the economy is still millions of jobs short of where it should be by now.

The unevenness of the economy has led many businesses to lean more on temporary workers, who are quick to install when business spikes but easy to dismiss when it falls.

These workers typically don't get health benefits or paid sick days.

The jobs provide a paycheck, but not stability. Additionally, employers can be more demanding.

Genco, which operates a warehouse for Johnson & Johnson in Mount Pocono, hires workers on a conditional 90-day basis, retaining those who meet productivity standards.

It is not alone.

The corporate mantra across America is improving efficiencies — looking to do more with less, including people — to boost the bottom line as sales have become harder to come by.

The seasonality, too, of the Poconos keeps some moving in and out of jobs on a regular basis.

When ski season ends, there are a couple of months falloff until visitors arrive for summer vacations.

"We always look to have more permanent jobs," acknowledged Chuck Leonard, executive director of the Pocono Mountains Economic Development Corp., whose work it is to bring business and employment to the region.

On the horizon are the well-publicized 735 jobs at upcoming Kalahari Resort and another 400 from the new Camelback hotel and indoor waterpark.

Together, the two payrolls will pump an estimated $30 million to $40 million annually into the local marketplace, according to Leonard.

At the outset there will also be $80 million to $90 million paid out in construction wages.

While there will be some management and skilled posts, a bulk of the jobs will be hospitality and retail categories that draw lower pay.

Nonetheless, the sheer numbers could compel area businesses into more competition and sweeten offers to attract and retain good workers.

Meanwhile, Northwest Diaper, which arrived in 2012, is expected to expand, along with potential new jobs from EVS Metals in East Stroudsburg and Summit Aerospace, which moved to a larger facility in Pocono Summit.

Leonard noted that the construction industry bore the brunt of the job losses in Monroe and Pike counties, as engineering firms, mortgage companies and other support services had no business here anymore.

On the upside, the available workforce has made the area attractive to companies, he said.

Still, it is often limited to the types of companies that can set up shop without a sewage treatment infrastructure, a necessity for food processors, for example.

Many residents in the Poconos have commuted to New York, New Jersey, the Lehigh Valley and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre areas for better-paying jobs.

But recession-induced job losses have continued to crimp opportunities outside the region, too, according to residents, who are trying to make the best out of a bad situation.

Andy McMenemy, 54, of East Stroudsburg, an information technology engineer, said his career had gone smoothly until 2010, when his employer, SunGard, an IT disaster recovery firm in Carlstadt, N.J., laid off 80 percent of the staff.

Like most, his first stopgap was unemployment compensation, and he started sending out resumes that showcased his experience with top firms like Bank of New York, where he had been one of its youngest managers, and Teacher's Insurance, one of the world's largest retirement systems.

"I had really nice jobs," McMenemy recalled.

Despite his efforts and experience, he first landed a job as a packer in the Lehigh Valley at an Amazon Distribution Center, where workers must pass through metal detectors on their way to the lunchroom.

He worked the night shift, enabling him to take his aging parents to doctor appointments during the day.

Next, a temporary agency got him a technician job with an Apple Customer Service Center — closer to his core skills.

It paid $9 an hour.

"Nobody cares about your background," McMenemy said.

After that came a higher-paying job at $13 an hour at a manufacturer in Tamaqua, where he was on track for a management post. It was a 70-mile drive each way.

But then the company strategy changed, a warehouse was sold, and McMenemy and others got laid off in July 2013.

That's when he filed for bankruptcy.

"I had cashed out my 401(k) to keeping going," he said. "These companies keep desks longer than they keep employees."

The new year started brighter. He landed a new job, with a third-party IT company, where he will be servicing a global health care firm.

It is a permanent position, and he will travel to Wilkes-Barre for pay that is "less than I made in 1980," McMenemy said.

Nonetheless when this full-time job came through, he called it "luck, luck, luck."

Kalie Weis, 22, of East Stroudsburg, had no doubt her marketing degree from the highly regarded Fashion Institute of Technology in New York would snag her a job quickly.

She began sending resumes three months before her graduation, and kept track using a spreadsheet.

"I thought it was going to be really easy," Weis said. "The list (of rejections) just kept piling up."

She started with large corporations but found they wanted people with graduate degrees. So she approached smaller companies and marketing agencies.

"I was looking all over New York City and New Jersey and Pennsylvania," Weis said. "When I didn't find anything, I started widening my radius all the way out to California. I asked my adviser what was I doing wrong. Was I missing something on my resume?"

While at FIT, she interned at a small branding agency across the street from campus, where she initially thought she would work full time. But the shop, boasting accounts like Benjamin Moore and Java, closed unexpectedly.

Until something gives, Weis has settled in with two jobs at the Crossings Premium Outlets.

She works primarily at the Fossil store and a few hours a week at Sunglass Hut. She needed the extra hours to meet bills, including a car payment.

"I couldn't afford to put food on the table," she said. "When I realized I wasn't getting my foot in the door with a career, I needed to start looking locally," Weis said.

"Retail is a big part of marketing and advertising industry, so I started looking for management positions."

She bags her lunch and shares a house with her boyfriend and mother, and they split expenses.

"It takes a lot of planning "» and it depends on who is more financially stable that week."

In the meanwhile, she said, "I've been trying to apply to places. It is all I can do for now "» and pray and hope that something can come along."